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"You mean difficult and Stubbon."

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THE AIR burned low and heavy as it rushed in Harvest's face, his sharp senses already picking up the footsteps of the girl behind him, trying her best to catch up with him, her heavy breaths lagging.

Truth be told, she was a scapegoat for him, and she was perfect for him, or at least he thought that she had been.

She was someone that he would give an excuse to, instead of being around Daya the whole time. She was getting quite suffocating, and the thought of spending another full week with her was enough to make him use his dilect to create an escape.

It was mere luck that he chose the one girl with a dilect that was intriguingly unique and was powerful enough to use to his advantage, despite her being chosen at random when he had walked into her class.

She had been the last student there, and if everyone else failed, he would have to stay with Daya and the greens for the rest of the week.

That seemed like a punishment to him, not that he didn't like a good challenge.

Yes, it had all panned out perfectly... Until it didn't.

He inwardly cursed at the thought.

When he had first walked into the classroom he knew he had seen the girl somewhere before but at the moment he hadn't cared enough to remember or recall.

Something he should have done before choosing her.

She was Talanda's friend.

The girl he had first seen in the Hallway. His mind replayed seeing her seated there on the bed.

He hadn't expected to see her there, even if she had been occupying his mind from the last time he had seen her in the red color class on repeat, over and over...

His jaw tightened, gaze shifting as they turned a corner.

He thought she would have looked happier since then, since he had kept his word as promised but it didn't take any power to see that she had been upset and worse still, crying.

Why was she crying?

It couldn't have been Daya this time, because the girl had been glued to his side the whole day. He was lucky to even have these few moments to himself.

He couldn't piece it together and that's why he felt frustrated as he walked down the pavements, leading to the crown.

"W-where are we going?" the girl behind him asked.

He gritted his teeth at the stutter.

It was something most girls did when they were around him. One of their tell signs that they had a 'thing' for him.

He remained silent as they moved into the crest grounds, passing by the sword and crown fountain.

Claire found herself staring up at the open sky, turning around in a circle, looking at the stars that seemed to have encircled the crown majestically.

The Crown looked so beautiful at night time she noted, freezing in her footsteps when she realized Harvest was already near the doors of the crown, and she ran to catch up with him again.

The sound of their footsteps echoed down the hallways as they walked down the empty halls of the crown, the dim lights lighting their way through it.

Claire felt a little airy, as it was somehow weird to be in these halls late in the night, as well as when no one crowded the hallways.

She glanced at Harvest but he seemed to be in his world, expressionless walking in strong strides, looking straight ahead.

And yet she couldn't deny that the boy was handsome, his features, from his rangled black locks to those deep blue eyes and that air of authority he always possessed, he was built like a dang god.

Though technically speaking, as dilectus...he was.

"if you have to stare, the least you could do is not make it so obvious," he grunted, placing a hand in his pocket as they turned a corner.

Claire's eyes widened, gaze quickly shifting to the floor, a deep blush dancing across her cheeks turning them a bright red, tucking a strand of her long dark locks behind her ear.

Harvest's jaw clenched as they moved up the stairs, his mind far off, yet able to put everything into account, all his current surroundings as well as every little detail.

After a blushing moment, Clair looked up at where they were going recognizing the route.

They were headed into the arena it seemed.

Her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of a tall figure standing in the shadows near the elevator that they usually used to get to the Arena.

She glanced at Harvest, hoping that he had seen the tall scary shadow, her heartbeat increasing, knowing she had watched many horror movies about students being murdered in dark hallways, by tall dark shadowy features.

She noted that Harvest's eyes only slightly narrowed down at the figure but approached it, whilst she decreased her pace slightly so she was walking behind him protectively.

Harvest stopped by the elevator which was yet to ascend, standing beside the tall hooded shadow, staring at the double doors waiting for them to open.

Claire felt unsure of herself, her heart still on a marathon as she stood at Harvest's other side, which was the farthest away from the scary dark figure.

She was almost sure Harvest hadn't seen it, but before she could say something, he spoke.

"This is when you decide to show up?" Harvest scoffed, not sparing the figure a look.

"Something came up," came the familiar voice Clair noted, yet it sounded raspier.

Harvest paused at this, "something more important than her?" he huffed.

"Something I couldn't avoid," the voice replied.

"Well, it had better be a damn good excuse Bowne," Harvest huffed, turning to him, feeling irritated, not only because of him but because of NOT KNOWING.

Not knowing why he wasn't able to fix it.

Claire recognized the name, eyebrows furrowing, slowly leaning back to get a glimpse of the shadowy figure watching as he pulled off his hoody, revealing Lucas Bowne.

But this was a different Lucas Bowne.

Yes, she had noticed he wasn't looking all too good, but Lira had always said, everyone has their sick days, including the originals.

However, at this moment, she was very sure that there was simply no way this was a normal disease.

Whatever it was that was affecting him seemed to have gotten worse.

There were deep bags beneath his eyelids, scratches around his chin, and a deep one seemed to be across his half-exposed arm, strands of his long silky hair had now become curly and wild, escaping like a wild mane, making him look depleted but dangerous.

"It's a damn good reason," he replied quietly as Harvest eyed him.

Claire spotted his sharp teeth, a shiver crossing her spine, looking away before she could get caught ogling.

Harvest's emotionless eyes trailed back up to Lucas, only grunting as the elevator doors dinged open, and he walked in.

Claire followed sheepishly feeling like she had managed to pull off the nonexistent sidekick but that fell short when Lucas' eyes met hers for a moment, and she realized that his normal hazel eyes looked a little wilder and feral than his usual calm self.

She looked away even as he took a stand to her left, making her sandwiched in the middle of Harvest and himself.

Claire gulped lowly, heart thundering, in both excitement as well as worry.

"I won't bite," Lucas suddenly grunted, and she froze, before slowly glancing at him.

His eyes were already on her before shrugging looking straight ahead, "at least not yet."

"Okay," she squeaked quietly though she admitted that there was no way that soothed her in the least.

She glanced momentarily at Harvest who seemed to be bored standing in the elevator, staring silently at the double doors.

Silence consumed them until Lucas broke through,

"she's with you isn't she?" he huffed.

Harvest scoffed at this, "you wouldn't be here if she wasn't," he replied.

Lucas nodded at this, before standing quietly and just as emotionless as Claire who was more than happy when the doors dinged open allowing them to walk out.

She paused in the elevator for a moment catching a breath.

The tension had been unbelievable before she allowed herself to chase after the two, who were walking silently a respectable distance away from each other.

She managed to sandwich herself in the space between them, as trailing behind tall Lucas Bowne made her feel a whole lot smaller.

Her eyes took into account the digital murals that displayed all the reputable moments that heroes had gone through in their life stories, spotting a mural of someone who she guessed was Perseus on a pegasus with a sword, dressed in warrior clothing.

She noted how cool it was, before almost being blinded by the bright light of the Arena as compared to the dim-lit hallways when Harvest pushed the doors open.

She walked into the Arena pausing for a moment, taking in the empty seats of the large arena.

The dome stood at the heart of the arena, the size of a football pitch, this time resembling just that.

A bare green field, covered in a thick see-through glass dome. She spotted only two other figures seated on a different side of the domes, eyes narrowing down at them trying to identify them.

Raskei and Daya.

She watched as Harvest descended to the open area by the some. She side glanced at Lucas Bowne who had taken a stand near the entrance, staring down at the dome.

She found him strangely even creepier than Harvest at this time, and so she moved toward Harvest, carefully walking down to the Dome.

"Raskei," Harvest's voice boomed as he walked toward her, Claire following but her eyes were on Daya who looked up from what she was doing at the sound of his voice.

She stopped a little ways away from Harvest as he talked to Raskei, or rather ordered her to do something about the reds with the twins.

She nodded, glancing over past Claire, Claire noting that she was looking at Daya with an ugly smirk, before walking back up the arena towards the entrance.

Harvest paused for a moment, before turning around to face the young red,

"We have a lot of work to do," he huffed, " in there," he added, gesturing to the dome with his hand.

Claire's eyebrows arched glancing momentarily at the dome, but before she could reconfirm this Daya's presence moved in.

"Uhm, Is there a reason this red is her? She supposed to be training with the other recruits," she paused, eyes narrowing on Claire with an amused chuckle, glancing at Harvest as she folded her arms, "was she lost?" she sang.

Claire frowned at this, quite unamused, and not liking the way she said it. Like she was a lost puppy.

"Claire's exactly where she's supposed to be." Harvest huffed moving past her, coat blowing in a nonexistent breeze.

"-What?" Daya asked, eyebrows furrowing staring blankly at the space that he had occupied only a second ago before turning around eyes following his movements as he walked to the chair, taking off his coat slowly.

"I think it was mentioned that I would be training her," Harvest grunted rolling up his sleeve,-

"Her?!" Claire pursed her lips as Daya's gaze snapped back to her in disbelief, trying to hold in a chuckle. Lira was right, this was epic.

Harvest paused, before dropping his coat in the empty seat folding his arms,

"Are you saying I don't know what I want?" he asked, eyes narrowing down on her.

She shook her head looking considerably confused, "np-np, I'm not saying that," she huffed finally able to piece her words together and with each word, her snarky confidence returned as well as the glow in those forest green eyes of hers,

"but I'm the one who's been here since day 1, you're supposed to train me!" she huffed.

"And I have," Harvest replied, " you understand your role in this. Give her, her chance," he grunted, referring to Claire.

"Don't be selfish," he huffed, before beckoning Claire to come closer, before taking the rings off his finger, as Daya stood dumbfounded, Claire gingerly walking past her.

"Besides, there are other things you have to do," he commented, his eyes trailing up to Lucas Bowne who had just descended from the top of the arena.

Daya's eyebrows furrowed at this, turned around, and spotted Lucas standing near the courtside seats as Claire would refer to them.

His tired eyes were on her.

She didn't seem to care he was standing there, moving toward Harvest, her tone low,

"But we still have that thing to get to," she breathed out lowly.

"That thing will be done on Friday." Harvest replied, eyes searching her, "and it's not a thing, it's something you've practiced and done quite well, you don't need any more practice, not from me," he huffed, before standing straighter, eyes trailing away from her to Lucas, though still talking to her.

"Lwangi and Rangi need help with the new reds, I'll see you on Friday, unless otherwise," he huffed his eyes trailing back to Daya.

She seemed frozen at his response, her eyes trailing from his face to his dark shirt.

Harvest scoffed at this, tucking in his shirt, before grabbing his coat, moving past her, and Claire.

"Follow," he called out to her, and Claire did, following him to a door, on the far end, glancing one more time at Lucas and Daya, Daya slowly turning back to face Lucas.

The door swung closed and she lost sight of them.

----------------

She focused straight ahead, never having been down these white walls, stopping in front of doors that were opposite each other, Harvest stopping beside one. turning to her,

"Use that door," he ordered, "change and walk through the marked door. I'll see on the other side."

Claire timidly turned, looking at the door across from her, glancing back up at her and he sighed.

"Quicker than that."

She nodded, walking toward the door, her breathing low before turning the handle and walking in. She was met with a clean nicely lit room, eyes marveling at how modern and neat it looked.

Lockers lined on one side of the room whilst the other side was lined with mirrors to a certain extent. Two doors, one with a funny-looking mark on it, jagged lines in a white resembling lightning streaks.

She looked down at the center circular stone mound where a familiar outfit was placed.

A combat suit.

She sighed looking at it before discarding her bag in a safe place, then proceeding to change, finally zipping up the full-body suit to its full length and turning slightly to see herself in the mirror.

The fit was okay.

She tried to bring color to her pale cheeks, by tapping on them and straightening her hair before pushing her glasses back up her nose before finally feeling ready.

She walked toward the marked door in the front of the room, her hand reaching out to unlock it, finding herself staring at a short dark tunny with a warm glow and teasing her of freedom.

Taking a soft gulp she proceeded to walk down the tunnel, her eyes squinting when she finally reached the bright light, coming out into the heart of the Dorm, the grass tickling her bare feet and she marveled at how soft it was.

She thought it was artificial grass but this seemed like the real thing, a small smile finding its way on her face, despite the bright light that illuminated the dome.

"Glad you could finally join me after 20 minutes," a voice grunted.

She looked up, only now seeing Harvest a few paces away, looking not at all pleased.

"I-uh"

"Come," he ordered.

She nodded, walking toward him at the center of the pitch, looking around, and realizing she was now standing at the heart of the Some.

Her eyes stretched out into the bleachers, realizing that Daya and Lucas were long gone, but still feeling small and insignificant as she stood at the center of this magnificent piece of architecture.

"Where are your shoes?" Harvest asked, looking down at her bare toes in disbelief, eyes trailing up to hers, watching how she gasped.

Claire stared down at her bare feet, before looking back up at him eyes wide and genuinely surprised, "There were shoes?" she squeaked.

Harvest's eyes narrowed down on her as if he was trying hard to figure out if she was joking or serious.

He ended up shaking his head, knowing the last thing that he needed was to babysit when there were already thousands of things about a certain girl he couldn't wrap his mind around before he could even start thinking about the one before him.

"Never mind," he huffed, his tone thick with each word, "we will proceed as planned," he huffed folding his arms, before pacing around her as he talked.

"Let us begin while we can. We have exactly three days till the blood moon when normally a training like ours would require a year, in the best-case scenario, but unfortunately, you are far from that."

Claire didn't fail to catch the jab. You- not this.

"However, you have a particularly interesting Dilect, and lucky for you, it caught my attention," he explained, stopping at her side.

"A dilect that would be useful for the blood moon and more," he added, "I need you to conjure a forest. The Fairborn forest would be best, but I guess any could do any at this point," he added, with a shrug.

She was barely paying any attention to what he was saying, still in disbelief that Harvest Adams was standing a foot away from her. Talking to her.

"Claire," the sharp mention of her name got her blinking back to reality eyes widening.

"Yes Alpha?!" she asked, louder than she meant to.

"A forest," he repeated, with a slight eye roll looking irritated for a moment, "this is no time to stare, you do that enough times in a day," he huffed walking past her stopping some paces away and folding his arms.

Harvest stared at the rest of the dome, "I want you to make sure the forest covers this whole thing up. I don't want to see the end of your illusion."

"A-a whole forest?" she stuttered, knowing the largest thing she conjured up was her grandmother and she definitely couldn't fit in the dome.

"Precisely."

She nodded, though still feeling nervous and stiff, knowing that his eyes were locked on her every move.

This made her only blush even more.

"Now would be a good time to start, Claire," Harvest grunted, hands tapping his arm impatiently.

She nodded once more, her throat dry before shutting her eyes.

"Open your eyes," he ordered.

"You need to envision it as if you were looking into the real world. If you close your eyes, you're feeding into your imagination." he stated, "As wonderous as imagination is, it can be exaggerated. Your power is a replica of creation, forming things from your memories is what you can do now, but when your imagination winds with reality, so will your power," he taught, "just be careful not to fall into your delusions," he huffed.

She listened carefully, nodding, eyes straight ahead taking in a deep breath.

Staring into the open space, she tried her best but she couldn't focus, all that was in her head was how close Harvest was to her.

As he looked out into the Arena she watched him and her illusions burst through, formulating.

It was an illusion of Harvest walking down the hallways and disappearing into the mist beside her that took fruition. The farthest thing from a forest.

Her eyes widened at the sight, holding a hand over her mouth, before looking back at Harvest hoping he hadn't seen it.

Luckily for her, he was still staring the opposite way, and with that, she relaxed.

"This isn't working," Harvest grunted turning back, looking at her, catching her eyes.

"You're nervous and you can't focus," he grunted, before moving towards her, "and I'm not a forest," he added, walking past her.

Her heart thudded whilst her embarrassment grew, knowing he had seen it.

"What calms you?" he asked.

"W-what?" she stuttered out.

"Your power is wild and untamed. Think of a time that you were able to control it, when you knew what it was, and what you wanted it to do. A time when it bent to your will, and then ask yourself, what made you focus like that? Take that and use it, even now."

Claire paused at this, looking down at the green grass that tickled her foot, sliding her glasses right back up her nose.

When was a time when she had managed to conjure magic at her own will, bending it into something that she wanted. Something that she could control?

A small smile crossed her features when the memory resurfaced.

"With my friends," she began softly, "my very best friend was sick, and I summoned a rose. She has a thing for white roses," she chuckled.

Harvest froze at this, his mind forming up a memory.

Of a particular wild-haired girl, picking up flowers from the restricted area. Of how he had watched her, marveled at her.

Wanted her attention.

Claire's smile dwindled, "She was upset today, and she wouldn't say why. I've noticed she hasn't been herself lately,' she added, "and I can't figure out why she's so distant."

Harvest remained quiet, listening, his breath heavy and heart a steady beat.

"I think she's going through something, but she won't say. " she added, her eyebrows deepening, "and I don't know where to start, so I smile and joke around, just to make her smile," she finished.

"She's never told you why?" Harvest asked, his tone low, but Claire didn't pay attention to how weird the question was.

"No, she's mostly to herself. Talanda's quite private," she replied, shaking her head.

"You mean difficult and stubborn," Harvest grunted and it was then that Claire looked up at him in surprise, eyebrows arched, causing Harvest to realize his mistake.

He cleared his throat and for the first time, Claire was surprised to see him looking uncomfortable.

"She's a leviathan, and her dilect is-..just as stubborn as she is" he explained, "her training is going just as well as this one is," he put it into perspective.

"But if she was half as responsive and open as you, we would be making progress," he huffed walking past her.

"She's not difficult," Claire defended, "Talanda's one of the most gentle and receptive people I've ever met, " she replied "You probably just scare her," she huffed, causing Harvest to freeze, turning around, dark eyes on Claire.

"What?" he growled.

Claire bit her tongue, not knowing why she rambled,

"I'm sorry A-alpha," she huffed.

Harvest pursed his lips but instead of blowing up as Claire thought, she was surprised when he sighed.

"Fine. Let's say that is the case. How would you suppose I fixed it?" he asked.

Claire froze, raising an eyebrow, unable to believe what he said.

"On with it," Harvest prodded.

"I would - uh- say be gentle?" she asked rather than stated.

"Are you asking me or telling?" Harvest asked rolling his eyes and folding his arms.

"Telling?"

"Claire" he barked, before gritting his teeth, stopping his frustration, shaking his head.

"What if... What if she doesn't trust me? If I show her gently and she doesn't believe me?" he asked, surprising Claire even more.

"M-make her believe it, I guess.." Claire shrugged.

"And how do you suppose I do that, Einstein?" Harvest grumbled, now growing more frustrated.

"Just tell her you're trying to be different!" she huffed, loudly blurting it out.

Harvest paused at this, and for a moment Claire's heart beat wildly, scolding herself for screaming at an original, especially Harvest.

He was surely going to ditch her now, but to her surprise he mere nodded.

"Okay," he said to himself.

"Okay?" she whispered lowly in disbelief.

His eyes moved to her, "A forest Claire, or were going to be here till morning," he huffed.

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Someone is desperate...👀

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